Witness the possibilities

Saturday

Feb 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM

SACRAMENTO - At the end of the day, students from Pacific Law Academy were the first to approach the keynote speaker, a Sacramento-based criminal defense attorney who undoubtedly could earn a living as a full-time motivational speaker.

Roger Phillips

SACRAMENTO - At the end of the day, students from Pacific Law Academy were the first to approach the keynote speaker, a Sacramento-based criminal defense attorney who undoubtedly could earn a living as a full-time motivational speaker.

"It was encouraging to hear somebody who's had real-life experiences," added 18-year-old Bailey Salemme, another senior at PLA, a 2-year-old school on the Stagg High School campus.

Jimenez and Salemme were among 48 PLA juniors and seniors who attended the high-school law day event Friday at University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law. Of the six high schools represented, PLA was the only one not based in Sacramento.

During the four-hour event, students toured the campus, listened to a lecture from a McGeorge professor, participated in simulated trial preparation and jury selection, and in some cases were beseeched to make a career of the law.

"Lawyers are agents for social change," Professor Raquel Aldana said during her lecture.

"Never put limitations on what you can do. Never," Staten told the students. "Be lawyers. I want you to be lawyers, every last one of you."

Most of the students from PLA and the other schools were Latino or black, and a focus of the day was to encourage increased minority representation in the legal profession.

It was an understandable focus; fewer than one-third of McGeorge's 2012 first-year students were minorities, and a 2010 report by the National Association for Law Placement reported significant under-representation of minorities in the law.

"The goal (of the law day) is just to provide high school students with exposure to the law and exposure to the campus," said Tracy Simmons, McGeorge's assistant dean of admissions and diversity.

Jimenez said the exposure solidified her decision to become a lawyer.

"Going to a place like this will make you work, it'll motivate you, it'll make you passionate," she said.

The 52-year-old Staten, who is black, spoke for 45 minutes, much of his time spent recounting a childhood spent getting in trouble and underachieving in school.

"I wasn't the best kid," he admitted.

It took dropping out of a community college, getting arrested for theft and seeing the tears of his disappointed mother to alter his path.

He told the students success will be assured if they maintain self-belief ("It's your own personal garden in your mind"), if they focus and if they weather the inevitable storms they will face in the years ahead.

"A big storm can come tomorrow in your life," he said. "But what are you going to do about it? That's the measure of your character."

Salemme said it's vital for students to hear encouraging words and to get a first-hand glimpse of the possibilities that await them if they dedicate themselves to the pursuit of their dreams.

"Kids need to be told 'You can be something great. You can be something amazing and change the world for the better,' " she said. "I don't think a lot of people hear that."